Utah Statewide RVCT

Riparian Vegetation Conversion Type (RVCT) is a supplement to the RVD method and estimates the form of riparian conversion along the stream network. Like RVD, RVCT uses LANDFIRE EVT and BpS data. BpS land cover types were coded with numerical values. The EVT vegetation types were given the same codes, with additional numbers for land cover types that did not exist historically (i.e. agriculture, invasive vegetation, etc.). Subtracting the EVT codes from the BpS codes created a new layer with values where each number represented conversions related to historic riparian vegetation cover. Each segment of valley bottom was categorized based on the conversion type with the majority of riparian conversion related pixels within the segment. The output of this process displays the most prevalent cause of riparian conversion within each given segment. This output in combination with the results of the RVD provide a more complete and explicative product for use in assessing riparian area condition.